Presidential race hangs in balance with calls for every ballot to be counted
While Missouri voters have voiced their support for President Donald Trump in the race for the next American president, a few key states were still counting votes as of press time for this story.
In Missouri, 1,711,848 voters cast their ballot for Trump, equating to 56.8% of the state’s total presidential votes. Biden received 1,242,851 votes, or 41.3% of the vote. Libertarian Jo Jorgensen received 40,932 votes from Missourians and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins received 8,219 votes.
St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis, however, voted soundly in favor of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Biden/Harris won St. Louis County by a 61-37% margin and the City of St. Louis by an 82-16% margin
Voters’ support for Trump in Missouri proved to be down slightly from 2016, however, when he received an almost 19%-point win in the state.
Trump’s victory this time around comes as no surprise, as 52.7% of Missourians voted GOP candidate Gov. Mike Parson to his first elected term.
Parson said Tuesday night he believes the state of Missouri is built on Christian principals and that people don’t want the government to tell them what to do every day.
“This election was about preserving freedom, capitalism and the rule of law,” he said. “That’s what this election was all about.”
The rule of law and freedom are major issues Trump has campaigned on.
After Biden was projected to win Michigan and Wisconsin late Wednesday afternoon, two battlegrounds Trump conquered in 2016, it was clear the president was intent on challenging several key results. His Twitter feed was filled with tweets, most of which were being censored by the social media site, concocting conspiracies of “mail-in ballot dumps” and claiming electoral victories from states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina before all votes were counted.
Joe Biden continued to push messages of unity, calm and patience so that every vote can be counted.
“Every vote must be counted. No one is going to take our democracy away from us, not now, not ever,” he tweeted.
Also pushing that message was a coalition of civil rights leaders that included Rev. Al Sharpton, Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, Clayola Brown, Derrick Johnson, Elise Scott, Kristen Clarke, Marc Morial, Melanie Campbell and Sherrilyn Ifill.
“For democracy to work for all of us, each and every voter must be heard. This is not about party, candidates, or agendas, but rather about the promise of our democracy that ensures no voters are silenced,” they stated.
“Despite a global pandemic and extraordinary voter suppression throughout the election season, voters participated in this election in historic numbers in the 2020 election. Across the country, citizens braved long lines to vote early, and mailed in or dropped off ballots in record numbers. Voters exercised their right to participate in the face of risks to personal health and safety.”
As for the U.S. Senate, the Associated Press reported the Republicans lost one seat to the Democrats. In the U.S. House, Democrats had lost 5 seats to the Republicans as of press time. Neither party had secured a majority in the House or the Senate as of press time.